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A light rain fell along the shore of Wailea, on the Hawaiian island of Maui. It was the last Thursday in February, three days before the start of the NFL scouting combine and the first opportunity for Snead to take a family vacation.

Snead sat at a steakhouse adjacent to the pool at the Four Seasons, sipping a glass of red wine and eating a filet mignon. He appeared to relish the downtime following a season that spanned seven months and included the Rams’ first division title in 14 seasons and first playoff appearance since 2004.

Snead gave no hint that he had spent the day holed up in his hotel room with his family at the beach.cheap nike nfl jerseys china

When he departed Los Angeles a day earlier, he thought negotiations for Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters were dead. The Chiefs’ asking price was more than the Rams GM was willing to spend. So Snead boarded a five-hour afternoon flight across the Pacific, leaving behind the thought of acquiring a two-time Pro Bowl selection.

He awoke the next morning to a flurry of text messages and voicemails. Four time zones away from Kansas City, Snead had slept through the Chiefs’ attempts to jump-start the negotiations.

As his wife, Kara, and the kids went out to explore the island, Snead stayed behind to orchestrate a move to answer the Rams’ pressing questions at cornerback.

Snead called chief operating officer Kevin Demoff, senior assistant Tony Pastoors and coach Sean McVay. Pastoors drew up the paperwork. McVay alerted the staff to gather film, and the head coach vetted the 25-year-old Peters, who was kicked off the University of Washington football team in 2014 and faced a one-game suspension last season after he threw a penalty flag into the stands before exiting the field for the locker room.

“You talk to the people that have been around him, that you really value their opinion, you trust it,” McVay said. “Got a lot of good things that came back in terms of a guy that loves football, does a lot of really good things for his community.”

Defensive coordinator Wade Philips and the defensive backs coaches watched more than 200 plays that focused on Peters’ strengths and areas that needed improvement. Each walked away with the same conclusion.cheap nike nfl jerseys wholesale

“It was unanimous,” McVay said. “We all wanted him.”

Peters was a proven playmaker. The one-time All-Pro had 19 interceptions in three seasons and was the prototypical corner to play man-to-man in Phillips’ scheme.

Time moves fast in football. In the short term, it’s remarkable that we’re already preparing for Sunday’s Community Shield between Manchester City and Chelsea at Wembley (10 a.m. ET, ESPN+), just three weeks after France were holding the World Cup trophy aloft in Moscow. In the longer term, it’s incredible that Pep Guardiola is now a decade into his managerial career.

Other revolutionary managers find themselves washed up 10 years after their “defining” campaign, as Guardiola’s 2008-09 season should probably still be considered. Either they’ve become weighed down by the stress of football management, like Arrigo Sacchi, or they’ve discovered their methods have been replicated and improved upon, like Arsene Wenger found. Guardiola, a decade on, is still the most revered manager in Europe, having avoided the Sacchi problem by taking a sabbatical year after his Barcelona stint, and avoided the Wenger problem by continuing to evolve his approach and keep his rivals guessing.nike cheap nfl jerseys

Since his arrival at Manchester City two years ago, Guardiola’s main two rivals have not included Jose Mourinho, his previous nemesis. The first was Chelsea boss Antonio Conte, who somewhat overshadowed Guardiola in their debut Premier League campaign, evolving the English top flight with his 3-4-3 and inflicting a memorable 3-1 defeat upon Guardiola at the Etihad.

The second was Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, whose gegenpressing caused Manchester City major problems in direct confrontations, most memorably in the stunning 3-0 Champions League victory at Anfield last season. Unlike Guardiola’s previous run-ins with Mourinho, relations between these managers have been professional and cordial. Guardiola respected Conte, and he respects Klopp.

But he absolutely adores new Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri, who may prove his most entertaining rival thus far.

Conte’s defensive-minded system felt like the opposite of Guardiola’s love of possession play, as did — in a completely different manner — Klopp’s high-energy, aggressive football. But Sarri’s Napoli played in a manner that recalled Guardiola’s Barcelona, their passing so structured and so incisive that it felt like a new iteration of tiki-taka.

The extent to which Sarri asks his players to “provoke” the opposition in possession is quite remarkable, the defenders toying with opponents before suddenly striking passes through them, transferring the ball from defence to attack quickly without a hint of a long ball. It was remarkable to watch and, while Napoli didn’t quite overtake Juventus in Serie A, unquestionably highly effective.cheap nike nfl jerseys from china

Sarri and Guardiola share the same footballing philosophy. When City and Napoli met last season, Guardiola said Sarri’s side was “maybe the best team” he had faced. When Sarri was unveiled at Stamford Bridge last month, he declared Guardiola “a class act, a champion, a genius,” before admitting that overturning the 30-point gap between Chelsea and City from last season would be hugely difficult. City boast two years of experience in Guardiola’s methods, Chelsea’s barely a month in their man’s. City have a better starting XI, a better squad and more tactical variety. What do Chelsea have? Well, Chelsea have Jorginho.

Chris Smalling is hoping his new vegan diet will give him an advantage in the battle for places at Manchester United.

Smalling is one of five centre-backs at Old Trafford alongside Eric Bailly, Phil Jones, Victor Lindelof and Marcos Rojo.

Competition for places could increase even further if Jose Mourinho gets his way and brings in another central defender before the transfer deadline next week with sources telling ESPN FC that Leicester’s Harry Maguire, Tottenham’s Toby Alderweireld and Yerry Mina at Barcelona are all on the list of candidates.cheap nike nfl jerseys paypal

No other centre-back made more starts for United last season than Smalling — he was fourth on the overall list behind only Nemanja Matic, David De Gea and Romelu Lukaku.

And the 28-year-old, who has had injury problems in the past, says it is proof he is benefiting from a transition to a fully vegan diet.

“My wife is vegan and has been vegan for a few years,” he said. “She cooks a lot at home and half the time I was eating vegan anyway. I wasn’t fully vegan and when we would eat out I would eat what I would normally have.

“After a while I started to cut out red meat. One of the reasons I started to was because red meat causes quite a lot of inflammation and I had quite a lot of tendinitis in my knee, which quite a lot of footballers get.nike cheap nfl jerseys

“It causes a lot of that inflammation and when I was cutting that down, the tendinitis started to go. It used to be quite a problem in terms of all warm-ups because getting going was a bit of a nightmare. I ended up cutting that out and my tendinitis has got better and better and I’ve started to feel it less.

“Now I’ve gone fully vegan and normally the start of preseason can be quite a tough time because you’re loading and that’s normally when it’s at its worst but I haven’t felt it at all.

“The last step was, that took me a little while, was the club, especially in terms of travelling. Mike [the chef] has been very accommodating and when I told him, we worked out different menus and different options.

“Some of the staff are vegetarian and some of the players try bits and pieces even though none of them are vegan. At the end of the day it’s about eating more good things.

“I think if he is productive, then maybe [he gets] around where he is making this year,” the exec said. “I think his year will really dictate what he gets. Think people won’t really focus on what he has done in the past but rather just this year.”

Teams generally stay cautious with numbers this time of year, especially with running backs. Some agents, however, predict that Bell will blow the roof off the market with at least $16 million per year.

“Whatever he wants,” said one veteran agent with direct experience with the franchise tag. “He’s a rarity. No one ever like him. Ultra special.”china nike nfl jerseys cheap

Although no one disputes Bell’s talent, some NFL evaluators aren’t sold on a sustained running back market at Gurley’s value. One exec called the Gurley deal — which includes $21.95 million guaranteed — a “total outlier” for now, acknowledging that Ezekiel Elliott and David Johnson will have their impact.

“I think he does well … but if he’s really thinking about the $16 million number, that won’t be what people [in the league] are thinking about,” one exec said.

Another exec added: “I’m not sure with that workload and history that he gets as much [as Gurley].”

Another factor is the fact that the final two years of Gurley’s rookie contract are blended into his four-year extension, which creates an average payout of $11.57 million per year. Some teams could try to use that against Bell.

However, former Washington Redskins salary cap analyst and Priority Sports agent J.I. Halsell said Bell is in a sweet spot regardless. He has proved to be an elite playmaker, and Halsell predicts that at least one team will pay Bell in excess of $15 million per year.

Having the cash to spend is no problem. Six NFL teams entered 2018 free agency with at least $60 million in cap space.

“Assuming he’s healthy, as productive as he’s been historically, he’ll have multiple suitors,” Halsell said. “Gurley has established what an elite playmaking running back market is. That’s Le’Veon’s floor — maybe not in every aspect, but he should be able to get to free agency and get that in guarantees.cheap nfl nike jerseys from china

“If you’re a team like the Detroit Lions that hasn’t had running back production in recent years and you need an elite player to get over the hump, then you pay that money.”

The wild card is the Steelers, who have options to retain Bell. The Steelers likely will consider placing the $17.8 million transition tag on Bell, which would allow Bell to negotiate with other teams but would give the Steelers the right to match. They would lose the compensatory pick due to them if Bell left in free agency outright, but they could try to parlay a draft pick out of the team that offered Bell a deal to match.

The Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday traded second baseman Jonathan Schoop to the Milwaukee Brewers, who added another option to a crowded infield as they make a push for the playoffs.

In return, Baltimore acquired veteran second baseman Jonathan Villar, as well as right-hander Luis Ortiz and shortstop Jean Carmona, both minor leaguers.

Schoop, 26, was hitting .244 with 17 home runs and 40 RBIs for the Orioles this season.

An All-Star in 2017, Schoop missed some of the first half of this season with an oblique strain, but he’s heated up since the All-Star break. His nine home runs in July are tied for the second-most in the majors behind Matt Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals (10) entering Tuesday.cheap nike nfl jerseys paypal

The trade is the second the Brewers have made for an infielder in recent days, following Friday’s deal for Mike Moustakas of the Kansas City Royals.The plan then was for left-handed-hitting third baseman Travis Shaw to shift to second base. The 26-year-old Schoop now gives Milwaukee a right-handed option at second.

The Brewers have also played Hernan Perez at second of late. The upside of having so many infielders is having another quality bat available on the bench.

“Really, what it comes down to for us is we think we’re getting better and we think we’re adding to our overall depth,” general manager David Stearns said.

In Schoop, Stearns acquired a young player still under contract for 2019. He has a guaranteed $9 million salary for next year.

“We talk about control and in this case it certainly played into the valuation of the player,” Stearns said.nfl nike jerseys cheap china

Milwaukee (62-47) entered Tuesday’s action one game behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. It also traded for reliever Joakim Soria from the Chicago White Sox last week.

But the Brewers did not add a starter, which was an area of concern following injuries to Brent Suter (elbow) and Zach Davies (shoulder). Jimmy Nelson (shoulder) remains sidelined after getting hurt late last season.

Stearns said the team could still look to deal in August, though he voiced confidence in a rotation currently headlined by Jhoulys Chacin (10-3, 3.45 ERA).

“I think we’ve probably had a little bit more confidence in our group throughout this year than perhaps there’s been externally and that’s fine,” Stearns said. “Certainly we were open and active to add to that group, but at this point we were unable to do so.”

Signed by Baltimore at just 16 years old, Schoop played parts of six seasons with the club and was an All-Star last year, when he hit .293 with a career-high 32 home runs and 105 RBIs.

Matt Patricia had players lay down on the ground, offense on one side, defense on the other. At the whistle, they popped back up and the offensive player — the ball carrier — then had to try to beat the defensive player one-on-one.

On the first padded day of Detroit Lions practice Sunday, they ran a modified version of the Oklahoma drill — just one example of the physicality and intensity under Patricia, the first-year Lions head coach, who is trying to change the culture of a team that hasn’t won a division title since 1993.cheap nike nfl jerseys from china

To do so, Patricia said at some point the Lions will tackle to the ground — a stark difference from former coach Jim Caldwell, who rarely had live tackling during practices. Patricia does want to keep his players upright for the most part, but he recognizes there are times that tackling has to happen.

Just to be prepared.

“At some point you have to go live. You have to be able to experience that both offensively and defensively because you don’t want to do it for the first time in a game,” Patricia said. “You have to be able to get in good position. There’s certainly a manner in which we can practice in pads where we can thud each other up and be in a good hit position and know that from the strike standpoint everything is clean and we’re in good space but then not really follow through or try to finish at that exact moment.

The potential for more tackling and contact is just one area where Patricia has changed Lions practices. Detroit does more running under Patricia than it did under Caldwell — including running laps for mistakes made in practice, something the defense had to do at least once Sunday.cheap official nike nfl jerseys

On Friday, Patricia opened his first training camp practice by working on goal-line strategy because of the importance Patricia places on it in games. The Lions offensively struggled in goal-line and short-yardage situations in 2017, something general manager Bob Quinn said after the draft bothered him during Caldwell’s final season.

Now, as the pads go on, they can work on that even more. The players noticed an increased energy having pads on as well. The linemen can hit. The players move just a little faster. For the third straight day, practice ran at least two hours.

“It’s definitely physical and that’s what we want to be, a physical team,” receiver Marvin Jones said. “So we’re out here working hard and the most dominant team wins every Sunday, so that’s what we have to be and that’s how we practice.

LAFC striker Adama Diomande says he was subjected to racial abuse during Wednesday night’s U.S. Open Cup match against the Portland Timbers.

Diomande, who joined LAFC in May, reacted angrily during the second half of his team’s 3-2 win at home, and wrote on Instagram after the game that someone called him by a racial slur.

“Today was the first time in my professional career that I was called the ‘N’ word on the field,” Diomande wrote. “They will say sorry to me after the game and please let it go, but If I don’t say anything racism will just continue to grow.cheap nfl jerseys nike china

“No matter which country, color, religion or which language [you’re] speaking we all are human being and we should respect each other no matter what! #saynotoracism”

Diomande did not specify if the slur came from a player or from the crowd, though he was involved in an incident with Timbers players late in the game.

Diomande had words with a number of Timbers players in the 90th minute after a hard foul on his teammate Carlos Vela. They had to be separated and Diomande then attempted to state his case to the referee while Timbers players tried to calm him down.

Then a few minutes later, Portland’s Julio Cascante was booked for a late tackle into Diomande’s back, and the LAFC man squared up with a number of Timbers players again.

ESPN FC on Thursday morning reached out for comment to both teams and U.S. Soccer, which organizes the U.S. Open Cup.cheap nfl jerseys from china nike

The Timbers, who are also protesting the game’s result over the number of LAFC’s foreign players, issued a statement saying the club would investigate the incident.

“The club is aware of the accusations posted on Instagram following Wednesday night’s U.S. Open Cup game and is in direct communication with LAFC management, league officials and internal staff to gather more information,” the Timbers’ statement said. “At this time, we are awaiting more details as we actively continue to investigate the matter. The club will provide further information when it becomes available.

Jurgen Klopp claims he had to convince Jordan Henderson to go on holiday following England’s semifinal run at this summer’s World Cup and expects to be without him and Dejan Lovren for Liverpool’s Premier League opener against West Ham.

Henderson and Croatia defender Lovren both helped their countries to the semifinal and final, respectively, in Russia, and Klopp has given each player time to recover before rejoining Reds training. Henderson will report back Aug. 5 and Lovren will be back the following day, giving the duo less than a week to be fit for the Aug. 12 match against the Hammers.

However, Klopp said the former Sunderland midfielder needed some coaxing to take the time off.cheap nfl jerseys from china nike

“It was a hard fight to convince him that he needed a holiday,” Klopp said on Thursday. “I knew it would happen. On the phone, I said ‘crazy’.

“Jordan needs a holiday, so that means Aug. 5 he will be back. Dejan had a party in Croatia and played a day later [than Henderson at the World Cup], so he will be back on Aug. 6.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, who travelled to Russia but played in just one match, is a different story, Klopp added.

“With Trent, I have a special agreement,” he said.

“He wanted to be in earlier as well. As he’s very young, I said ‘OK, have two weeks’ holiday and then we’ll speak and see.’

“If you asked Trent, he would be good to join us in Evian [for their training camp].

“But I’m not sure I will do that. I want to have them desperately but the season is really long.”

Klopp warned of the toll the international schedule is taking on players and their clubs.

Klopp said: “I don’t want to get too football political but if they don’t stop with these games — they are now making it the Nations Cup to make it more important — then all these players who played at the World Cup have to go there again.cheap nfl jerseys nike china

“We had four players in the [World Cup] semis, which is OK, we can deal with that. Tottenham had nine players in the semis. I have no clue how they will do it. That’s a big challenge. It’s a really tough thing to deal with, and in the future we have to change it.

“They play the World Cup, then the Nations Cup, next summer is the final of the Nations Cup, which is really crazy. Everything is now so important in football and we have to collect their bones afterwards, more or less.”

As Machado prepared for Tuesday night’s All-Star Game in what could be his final appearance in a Baltimore uniform, the Orioles were going through medical records and other paperwork involved in the transaction, sources told Olney.

Diaz, 21, who homered twice in Sunday’s Futures game, is hitting .314 this season with six home runs and 30 RBIs in 59 games for the Dodgers’ Double-A Tulsa team and is ranked as one of the team’s top prospects.

The Philadelphia Phillies and Milwaukee Brewers were also among the teams that reportedly had made a strong push to acquire Machado, who came into the All-Star break hitting .315 with 24 home runs and 65 RBIs.nfl nike jerseys for cheap

Machado, 26, spoke briefly to reporters in the American League clubhouse before his team’s 8-6 All-Star Game win and said he has not received any updates on his status from the Orioles or his agent.

“Nothing,” he said. “I haven’t heard anything. I’m just worried about the game today. Whatever happens moving forward will happen, and there will be a time and place for everything.”

Machado later pulled out his phone and snapped a selfie with Dodgers All-Star Matt Kemp, who had pulled into second base with a double leading off the second inning.

He also took a selfie with a former teammate, Braves All-Star Nick Markakis.

Olney reported Sunday that even if the Phillies do not trade for Machado this summer, they would ardently pursue him as a free agent after the season. Philadelphia’s front office is loaded with former Orioles officials who were involved in the drafting and developing of Machado — including president Andy MacPhail, general manager Matt Klentak and assistant GM Ned Rice.

In an interview with Fox after being removed from the All-Star Game in the sixth inning, Machado was asked what his day was like amid the rumors.

“You know what, just try not to think about it honestly,” said Machado. “Just try to enjoy this moment, come out here with the American League guys and just enjoy it with all these guys that I’ve played with for a long time.”cheap nike nfl jerseys wholesale

Knowing it was likely the last time he would wear an Orioles uniform, Machado said his emotions were “Amazing. Through the roof. It was a tremendous honor to wear this uniform. They gave me the opportunity to come up and play in the big leagues. That’s everyone’s dream, and they gave me that. They gave me the opportunity to play shortstop again. The organization has done everything, so if this is the last time, hopefully I treated them well and did everything I can for the organization.”

Bregman’s homer was one of a record-breaking 10 in the game, and it put the AL ahead for good, as baseball’s best put on a power exhibition in the late innings. Bregman’s Astros teammate George Springer hit one out immediately after Bregman.nfl cheap jerseys nike

“There’s a great love affair with both results. I mean, to kind of empty your tank and hit homers tonight at this event is probably the best thing imaginable,” AL manager A.J. Hinch of the Astros said. “Just to have that kind of emotion that comes with the home run, especially when the big boys hit it and especially when the Astros hit it.”

Bregman and Springer homered off losing pitcher Ross Stripling of the Dodgers — that’s kind of how last season ended too, with Houston battering Los Angeles’ pitchers in the World Series.

“I took a cutter down the middle first pitch, then kind of went into battle mode and was just trying to put a line drive in play and it left the yard. It was crazy. A lot of fun,” Bregman said. “Normally when we go back-to-back, I have to hit it after Springer does because he leads off, so it was pretty cool to see them go back-to-back.”nfl nike jerseys for cheap

Bregman smiled all around the bases. He is familiar with this city, his grandfather having been the general counsel for the old Washington Senators.

“My dad grew up on Ted Williams’ lap. So to see Ted Williams Most Valuable Player on this trophy is pretty special,” Bregman said.

The 24-year-old Bregman is a first-time All-Star in his third major league season. He hit 19 homers last season, and he has 20 so far this year.